大雪拼/大血拼! Stefan Kaelin 75% off sale!

My brother-in-law called yesterday and said their favorite ski equipment store in Aspen, Stefan Kaelin, has a store in Newport Beach and it is having a closing sale. Everything at the store is 75% off. I was reluctant to go at first because I know my in-laws frequent high-priced boutique stores and the things sold in that store are likely out of our price range. But since my husband is eager to outfit himself and the kids for the next skiing season (and what better time to do it than the off-season?!), I figure the trip will give us an excuse to drive down to Orange County for an overdue visit to the South Coast Plaza.

We made a pit stop at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant Pho 79 (http://www.pho79.com/) in Westminster for lunch.

We got to Stefan Kaelin (http://www.stefankaelin.com/) at 3pm and proceeded to spend the next 3 hours there browsing through the entire store for bargains. At our last ski trip in April, we had bought some ski goggles for the kids already, so they don't really need any other skiing equipment. What they need are ski jackets and pants that they can grow into. I was surprised to see all the kids' ski/snowboard jackets at the store selling between $25 and $35. The store is also giving an extra 10% off if we pay cash. I found this beautiful Lavender Burton Element Jacket (Girl, size L) for $25! I figure with another 10% off for paying by cash, the jacket will be an amazing deal. I also found some Hot Chilies (thermal underwear for winter sports) for $9 (children) and $19 (adults) and ski/snowboard socks for $5. My husband bought a set of skis, poles, ski boots, and a ski bag with wheels for $250 total!!! Anyways, I ended up buying 6 ski/snowboard jackets for the kids (and my sister's kids) and 1 pair of ski pants for my daughter, as well as a pair of winter boots for myself. The total came to about $550, including my husband's loot, but the lady gave us another 25% discount as well as the 10% off for paying everything in cash. We paid a total of $480 for 8 large bags of skiing outfits and equipment. So my daughter's lavender Burton jacket came to about $18 (regular price: $120) and the matching skiing/snowboarding pants was only $16. I don't think I can find any winter outfit for that price anywhere else. I am psyched; we are ready for skiing this winter and the next winter!! For those that are interested, the Stefan Kaelin store in Newport Beach is located at the corner of Coast Highway and Tustin in downtown Newport Beach (2700 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach, CA).

昨天我小姑的先生告訴我老公在 Newport Beach 有一家有名的滑雪專賣店正在舉辦清倉大減價! 這家店(Stefan Kaelin, http://www.stefankaelin.com/) 的本店在 Aspen, Colorado。Newport Beach 的店是分店。因為老闆要把 Newport Beach 的店關起來, 所有店內的商品將要廉價出售。 我本來也懶得開那麼遠的車子去逛一家價錢不凡的滑雪專賣店。可是想想我已經好久沒有去 Costa Mesa 的 South Coast Plaza 購物中心。我們順道去看看也無妨。

我們每次去 South Coast Plaza 購物中心時都會路過越南城,就會順便去吃碗越南麵 (Pho79, http://www.pho79.com/) 再繼續開往 Costa Mesa。 我的兒子喜歡吃的東西不多,可是他就偏偏很愛吃越南麵, 也不知道為什麼。

我們大概三點多到達 Newport Beach。 一進 Stefan Kaelin 的店, 就看到一箱一箱的滑雪用的配件放在地上。我想我得花點時間一箱一箱的找看看有沒有什麼便宜的東西可以買。結果發現真正便宜的東西是掛在衣架上一件件的滑雪衣物。小孩子穿的滑雪外套及褲子都好像沒人在買。一看標籤才發現一件外套才 US$25 (原價 $90-$120)。 太棒了, 連在 TJ Maxx 或 outlet 店也不可能找到這麼便宜的雪衣或冬天穿的外套。大小孩的服裝只分 Sizes XS, S, M, L 及 XL 。 我看到只剩下一兩件 size S 及 size M 的外套,其它都是大號的外套。這下子女兒賺到了她選了一件淺紫色的滑雪外套 (US$25, 如圖) 及同系列的滑雪褲 (US$20)。我總共拿了六件小孩外套、一件女兒穿的滑雪褲、十雙滑雪襪 (一雙US$5)、二雙靴子 (US$39) 及四件滑雪時穿的內衣( Hot Chilies)。只可惜大人的滑雪外套還是賣得太貴。我看到一件原價 US$2,000 的雪衣, 店家要賣 US$500! 大貴了, 根本下不了手, 也買不起。反正我也不滑雪, 買滑雪外套做什麼?! 我老公自己跑到樓上選了一套滑雪板及滑雪桿, 外加一雙滑雪鞋及二個裝這些滑雪裝備的袋子。他的總額是大概 US$280 左右,我選的東西加起來大概也要 US$250。結帳的時候, 老闆娘再便宜我們七五折, 然後因為我們付現, 她又算我們九折。我們連稅總供付了 US$480, 搬了九大包的東西上車。我們挑選的東西足夠我們用二、三年! 常去滑雪的朋友應該知道我們賺到了, 真的買到不少便宜的東西。

之後,我們又到 South Coast Plaza 邊的 Nordstrom Rack 去逛了一下。老公買了兩雙上班時可以穿的鞋子, 然後也幫女兒買了一雙夾腳拖鞋。逛完 Nordstrom Rack,小孩就喊肚子 (奇怪,我怎麼還飽得很?!), 只好放棄去 South Coast Plaza 購物中心血拼, 直接到 Nordstrom Rack 旁的 Karl Strauss (http://www.karlstrauss.com/) 啤酒釀酒公司吃晚餐。 兒童餐份量很多(US$6.25,包含飲料), 兒子根本吃不完,只好打包回家。我叫了一杯 Pin Tail Pale Ale 啤酒 (US$5), 淡淡的還有柑橘類水果的味道,還真不錯喝!

喝了點酒,就不想讓老公開車上高速公路。 我就建議先到附近的 Target 逛逛。 我想買幾個塑膠箱子回家。我想開始整理房間,把冬天的衣服收起來。這星期 Target 56-quarts 的塑膠箱子只要 US$4,還算便宜。我也順便買了些文具用品回家。

今天真的是滿載而歸!

購買小孩滑雪用的眼鏡 Shopping for Children's Ski Goggles

We are taking the kids skiing over the spring break. I called a friend last week and asked whether she had any old ski pants that her kids had outgrown. I was lucky to outfit both kids with hand-me-down ski pants. I bought ski gloves for them last year at Costco. Since the kids can rent ski equipments and helmets at the ski school, the only things left to buy are ski goggles and socks. I have already asked our family ski expert, my sister, for some advise on how to shop for ski goggles and socks. She gave me some links for me to check them out before we head out to the stores. So we did our homework before we went shopping. What we didn't count on was that the store wouldn't have the merchandise we wanted.

We walked into REI and the whole first floor was filled with camping-related things. We went to the second floor hoping to find some ski stuff, but we didn't see anything related to snow. My husband went up to a REI staff and was told that the store shipped all their ski stuff back to their warehouse, but we can still buy ski stuff on-line. That was unfortunate and a total waste of time. We had to give another store a try. We went to Sports Chalet. They did have snow equipments on display--lots of skis, snow boards, socks, goggles, helmets, etc... We found everything but nothing in children's sizes. So again, we went to speak to a staff. The guy told us that they sold out of children's ski goggles a long time ago, usually right after Christmas. Another waste of an hour. We should have just done the shopping on-line, instead of wasting gas, driving around town looking for ski stuff.

Although we didn't accomplish the task we set out to do today, I did discover something. I had no idea that with a down turn in our economy, sporting goods stores are still doing brisk business.

我們春假要帶小孩子去滑雪。上星期我已經把小孩子的滑雪褲搞定。我打了通電話問朋友看她有沒有她小孩子不能穿的滑雪褲。她的小女兒比我女兒大一歲, 所以我這幾年來一直都很樂意接收她女兒不能穿的衣服。滑雪夾克本來就有了。滑雪用的手套去年在 Costco 就買到了。 只剩下滑雪用的眼鏡及襪子還沒買, 其它滑雪用的東西可以用租的。我妹常帶她的小孩去滑雪, 所以她這方面經驗豐富。我問她小孩滑雪用的眼鏡及襪子要買那一種比較好,她也給了我有少這方面的資訊,所以我去買東西之前是有準備的。結果沒想到今天去了兩家店都沒有在賣小孩子用的滑雪用品。

第一家店REI是連滑雪的用品都沒在賣了。店員說要上REI家的網站才買得到滑雪用品。第二家店 Sports Chalet 只有在賣大人用的滑雪用品。找不到小孩子用的滑雪用品。店員說很多小孩子用的滑雪用品在聖誕節之後不久就賣完了。看樣子得上網路買或上山再買小孩子需要的滑雪眼鏡及襪子。

今天是浪費了不少時間逛運動休閒用品店。雖然沒買到我們想買的東西, 但是我悟到一件事--就是原來在景氣不好的時候, 運動休閒用品店的生意可真好!